Pentair IC15/Salt Start Up Questions

Yea my T100 test kit has been showing like 0-1 PPM chlorine levels every morning. I have been adding about 4-6 OZ of liquid chlorine daily/every morning when I do my reads before work. Seems like maybe the sun beaming on the pool daily is depleting it?

Regardless, I’m approaching day 29 since my plaster was installed on 4/8 so I plan to add salt probably Friday after work or Saturday AM.

Is there any chlorine level I should get the pool to before adding salt?

Is it as simple as dumping in 2 bags, turning on the salt cell, syncing it to my pump timer and we’re good to go?

Apologize if these questions are moronic, I know nothing about swimming pool water chemistry other than what I’ve fortunately learned on here

Tested my two fill water options with Taylor K-2006-SALT - thoughts?

This is the battle I mentioned earlier. With evaporation you'll be adding more high TA fillwater. Don't beat yourself up trying to drop the TA. If your TA is high after filling the pool, use the more aggressive method of aeration, then run the spillover on your spa daily and add acid as necessary to lower pH. The acid will pull down your TA at the same time.

Your TA will likely always be on the high side. That's not a death sentence. It means your pH will rise more quickly and your water will have more tendency to scale. You can offset that by keeping pH and CH levels on the low side. Take a look at the article below. You'll want to try to maintain CSI at a slightly negative level. Use your softener to maintain CH at 250 ppm.

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Replace stone veneer on hot tub spilling into pool.

Is this a spillover hot tub Inyo a pool?

Show us pictures of the pool and hot tub and where the stone will go.

In general I recommend porcelain tile on pool/spa spillovers and walls.
Thank you for the reply. I did consider tile but don't think it's a good fit for my pool.
I'm going with the stone in part because my wife will kill me if I change my mind again. I've been dragging this out for some time before I remembered this site. I should have posted here six months ago.
The stone manufacturer confirmed it'll be ok in the pool setting if installed correctly. I like the natural stone look. It's what the pool was built with.
I'm in NJ also btw.
Thanks again

Mixed Instructions - VS Pump & SWG

in your experience the 1100rpm is enough to turn the SWG on? if salt gen is on 24/7 as is the pump...is it okay to produce the chlorine from the salt gen when it's running higher speeds?
Yup. Works in my system. You want to have enough RPMs so that the flow going through the cell (which is transparent) is all water and no gas pockets are holding at the top. The electrolysis reaction itself doesn't care what the water velocity is.

what's the point of running the pump ever at a high speed
Lots of reasons... I have a paramount IFCS (in floor cleaning sys, as Mr. Rancho pointed out) which supposedly "requires" for 18-25 psi of pressure at the distribution valve to function correctly. I need RPMs to make that much pressure. Other reasons: water effects, hot tub jets, vacuuming, chemical mixing, etc.

The calimar/circupool/b&d pump has a "quick cleaning" button on it where you can set a temporary cycle that reverts to the scheduled program afterwards. I programmed it to 3000 rpm for 30 minutes so that when I want to vacuum the floor manually or circulate the pool heavily after dumping in a bucket of acid (diluted), all I have to do is go punch that button and then go on about my business.

I also want to be electricity bill conscious here
Low speed, low energy use. See Mr. Rancho's comment above. I use something stupid low like 230 watts at 1100 rpm. That's right at 1 amp.

Most experts will say that running a pump 24/7 creates no additional strain on the pump. Some will argue that it creates less wear and tear on the pump because there are less start and stop cycles.
I follow this school of thought. object in motion remains in motion and all....

Disabling water flow sensor-Hayward Omnilogic

I know this is an old thread, but rather than start a new one I thought some folks might find this conversation helpful. At any rate, I was having this same problem. My SW T-cell would shut off due to reading no-flow, even though water was very clearly flowing. After some quick internet searches for Hayward ‘no flow’ I discovered that you can easily check to see if it might be your control board or the flow sensor/switch that is bad. You check this by simply using a screwdriver where the water sensor plugs into the logic board (which uses an old telephone style connector). You remove the telephone style connector, hold the screwdriver to be touching (connecting) the two contacts inside the where the plug of the sensor would go. If the error message goes away after 30 seconds or so then it is very most likely your sensor that is the problem.

When I tried this, the error went away, so I ordered a new sensor, but in the meantime I’d like my pool to be chlorinating. Since all the flow-switch does is close the connection I cut off the old flow switch connector (the telephone-style connector). It consists of two wires, one for each contact. I then spliced the two wires together and used some electrical tape to hold it all together. After plugging the connector back in the no-flow warning went away and now my pool is being chlorinated. As soon as the new flow switch arrives I’ll swap them out.

I’m sure this is not advised by the manufacturer so do this procedure at your own risk but it’s a quick short-term solution.

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Leaking at multiport valve

My hubby replaced the sand in our pool. He can't get water to stop leaking around the clamp area of the MPV. It is a pentair valve 261886. I called the co. For help but they couldn't find the valve on their website even though I was able to bring it up. Anyway, hubby doesn't remember where the Oring was located on the valve as it connects to the filter. Can anyone help before he blows up my pool?

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Brown Spots on Pebble from Leaves

Pictures help.

The stains didn't get there overnight. Expecting them to be gone overnight is not realistic.

So, if the stains lightened with the tablets, that indicates they are iron. An ascorbic Acid treatment would be my next step

What do you suggest? I found a chemical called A+ stain remover as well as a product from Chlorox to remove metals.
I have no idea what "A+ stain remover" is nor do I have any idea what the Chlorox stain remover is.

Stay away from "Magic bullets". Do the ascorbic acid treatment and report your results

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Gas vs normal exhaust smell on mastertemp 125 heater

I have a customer that is complaining of a gas smell from the exhaust of a relatively new Mastertemp 125. I'm not quite sure if it's actual gas, or just the smell of the exhaust. I don't know that my nose is sensitive enough. To me, it just smelled like exhaust. The gas pressure reads fine, it's outdoors (well ventilated). What are some other possible explanations for this. Is a gas sniffer the best option to test this out? Is it normal for some minor or minute amount of gas to always come through the exhaust?

air leak repair

Looks like I have an air leak in my system even though on my opening thread, opening 2025 I mentioned things went smoothly. I just checked and while everything looks good (except the psi) when the pump is running, once I stop the pump for a minute and then restart it, you can see air bubbles in the returns. So obviously air is getting into the system, when the pump is off.

I put my ear to the various possible leak locations when the pump is off and couldn't hear anything. I also put water on them and didn't see bubbles. Although maybe that's just for air leaking out like on a tire. This issue is air leaking in.

I have a bunch of possible leaks and want to get some advice on how to diagnose and fix the problem. I am going to try to attack the issue one by one from easiest to hardest.

1. I have a rubber plug on the waste output which is a threaded pipe. This is how it was when I inherited the system and I have been too naïve to fix it. I guess I have been relying to much on if its not broken then don't fix it. I don't know the sizing of this. Anyone can tell from the picture. My system is 1.5" pvc. This has threads in it.
2. Close of chlorinator holes. I asked previously here if anyone knew how to find plugs for these lines. No one has replied, so I will keep searching.
3. Lubing pump lid gasket.
4. I did lube up the drain plugs on the pump, but I will try reseating them.
5. replacing the pressure gauge and the assembly that connects it to the filter shell.
6. Resealing separation tank lid
7. reseating the plumbing line connections to the pump
8. reseating the water viewer on the multiport
9. Looking into the pipe that goes from multi port to separation tank. That has always had a small drip. It makes sense that would be the issue, except its worked fine like that in past years.
10. multiport maintenance.

I guess is this where I need a lot of help. What would you guys recommend. Should I call someone to do maintenance on it? I feel like if i tried that they would have no clue what to do or mess it up. Or should I buy a gasket and try to replace it myself? I saw a video on it and it looked hard. Or should I buy a new multi port and have someone install it or try installing myself? I need a plan of attack that doesn't leave me without a pump for a few days, so cost may have to take a back seat.

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